Skyrocketing house prices in Tauranga are putting pressure on transitional housing services. Photo / File
House prices are rising faster than incomes - causing crowded homes, an increase in the amount given in emergency housing grants, and a 72 per cent rise in people on the housing waitlist in just two years.
And as transitional housing shelters struggle with capacity, some people are being forced to stay in their cars, with whānau or in motels while house-hunting.
In January, the 16th Annual Demographia International Housing Affordability Survey
named Tauranga as the fifth most unaffordable place to buy a home in the world.
Now, Priority One's latest Economic Monitor report has revealed overcrowded houses, a lack of stock, and disproportionate rental costs are plaguing Tauranga and the Western Bay - and house prices are rising "far faster" than incomes.
Tauranga and Western Bay of Plenty houses were estimated to cost more than 10 times the median household income, above the national average of nine.
Tauranga City also recorded the highest rental cost burden in 2018, with 34 per cent of the median household income of $91,177, spent on rent.
The report also found 7 per cent of the city, or nearly 10,000 residents, lived in crowded housing.
In the June quarter, Emergency Housing Grant numbers dropped yet the value increased, with total grants up from $1.8 million to $2.8m for Tauranga City, and up by $90,000 to $255,000 for Western Bay.
The number on the Housing Register soared 72 per cent in two years from 309 in June 2018 to 532 in June 2020.
OneRoof editor Owen Vaughan said the median value for Tauranga properties was $715,000, up from $665,000 this time last year.
In the Western Bay, the median was $780,000, up from $720,000, with a lot of lifestyle properties in this area, he said.
According to the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment, the mean weekly rent in Tauranga was $508 in August this year, $495 at the same time last year and $319 a decade ago.
In the Western Bay, the mean rent was $433 in August, $423 last year and $272 10 years ago.
Meanwhile, the average income is at a three-year low across the region, currently at $818 per week or $42,500 per year, down from $42,952 in 2018.
Tauranga's men's shelter, Takitimu House, provides transitional housing for single men and was constantly at its capacity of 20.
The shelter received up to six referrals from the Ministry of Social Development when a bed became available.
"There is no shortage of referrals coming through," manager Annamarie Angus said.
Increasing the capacity to 30 was prudent given the growing need highlighted by the report, and the low number of men they could accept at any given time was a shortfall they've noted.
"This shortfall will have an increasing and negative impact on our community as housing vulnerability takes hold."
Private rentals had always been an issue for their clients, with prices out of reach and increasing.
"Many of our clients who do work, do so in relatively low-paid employment, therefore private tenancies are unaffordable, as they have always been."
She said the report was proof of what emergency accommodation providers were seeing day to day - a need to increase services for those struggling to afford and retain housing given unmet needs.
Awhina House general manager Angela Wallace said the crisis created a "bottleneck" of women "desperate" for a place to stay.
"[There is] no housing for our current residents to move into, resulting in a reduced capacity to take in more women who are in need."
The women's shelter had beds for 11 women and a goal of housing them within 12 weeks, with many now staying longer as a result of the shortage, while inquiries from the public and women were growing.
She said going through private landlords has been the only way for the women to secure a home as many faced a wait of more than two years for a Kainga Ora house.
"We have women who are applying for up to 20 properties every week. Many will be rejected at the first stage of application as they have debt or are not working full time.
She said they relied on central and local government to provide long-term housing.
Accessible Properties houses about 3500 Tauranga residents in more than 1160 properties.
General manager Vikki McLaren said demand for social housing continued to grow, along with the negative social impacts on those struggling to find good-quality, affordable housing.
"We are also seeing a growth in demand from applicants aged 65 years and over not seen previously, further fuelling demand."
Housing is a basic human need, she said, and the social and financial costs to those on the waitlists were big.
Their challenge was to shift the current investment in emergency housing and associated support services to secure-tenure housing in well planned and resourced communities, she said.
Tauranga Budget Advisory Service manager Shirley McCombe said there was a variety of places people stayed while on the housing register: motels, other emergency housing, cars, or with whānau.
She said there had been an increase in families moving in with whānau to make accommodation cheaper and combat the issues that come with high rental burden.
"Everything is affected really - food, clothing, WOF, registration and debt repayment," she said.
Earlier this week, McCombe told the Bay of Plenty Times some clients were "so desperate for a house they would agree to take on a property they could not really afford but felt they did not have any other options".
A Ministry of Housing and Urban Development spokesman said Tauranga had "significant" housing and urban development issues that needed addressing.
"Demand for housing has outstripped development opportunities in Tauranga and slow and complex funding processes have delayed new greenfield growth," he said.
New housing construction has not matched the population growth and the ratio of new consents to population is "one of the lowest in the country".
He said the Ministry of Social Development issued Emergency Housing Special Needs Grants for up to 21 days as opposed to the usual seven during the nationwide lockdown due to an emphasis on everyone having a warm, safe and dry place to stay.
As a result, the number of grants issued fell because they covered longer periods, but the number of households being supported rose, as did the cost.
"Central government, local government and iwi all have a role to play in working towards this and are working together to do so."
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